confused about courgettes

[non-gardener]

Hello...I just have a question really; I'm not a gardener but I'm trying to grow courgettes (those are the only things I'm growing), but the flowers keep falling off! My plant looks fine and seems to be healthy, and so far it has had 4 flowers bloom, but they have each only remained open for about 4 hours, then closed and started to wilt. I touched the first flower after it had closed up and it just fell off the stalk neatly. The others have just fallen on their own; it's a very neat break but I don't know if this is supposed to happen. I couldn't see anything about it in the zucchini article...could anyone help me out?

[Polly Fouracre]

I'm no expert either but I think you get male flowers first,these are the ones on long stalks.The female flowers have a tiny,miniscule courgette behind them.
I have often found that even these early female flowers don't really develop,but as the plant matures they seem to do fine.

[CloveGirl]

Mine also did this but are now off and running....I'm the only one in our house who eats them and I'm getting at least one very large every other day!

[rustylady]

Are your plants in pots, growbags, or open ground? This may affect their growth. You need male and female flowers open at the same time (not necessarily on the same plant - just nearby) in order to get the fruit to set.

[Sirius]

I think this is the same issue I had originally with my pumpkin I'm afraid. The male flowers come out first, often in abundance - you should expect a lot of them (I was reliably informed 10-20!) before any female flowers come out. I found once our sole female flower opened, there was only one male flower left on the plant, so we pollinated by hand to try to make sure they had a chance - the flowers only stayed open for a few hours, so they don't have long to get going! I know things might be slightly different with courgettes, but I understand they are in the same family as pumpkins and cucumbers, so I'd expect them to act in the same way......

[Jaxom]

found this on a BBC site. Hope it helps for future years.
One of the most frequent problems I get asked about by vegetable gardeners is ‘why am I having trouble with courgettes not setting fruit?’. This is usually a problem during the early spring when the weather is often very changeable and there is a lack of pollinating insects around. Now they can grow Courgette Parthenon F1 Hybrid as this variety is Parthenocarpic (self fertile) so is guaranteed to set fruit whatever the weather without the aid of pollinating insects. Parthenon could be the answer to many gardeners prayers, as you can even grow it early under glass or in poly tunnels for that very early crop.

here is the link to the page http://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/content..._feature.shtml

[waynebeddall]

Hi I am also a first timer I am just about to pick my first courgette and have noticed the same is happening to me, to be honest Im was not really worried as long as I got a nice courgette. I have noticed that they do flower again very quickly and after you pick your first one you will have a new one every couple of days.

[non-gardener]

Thanks everyone for your input...it's good to know my plant isn't just a dudd/freak courgette!! In answer to rustylady, my plants are in a big pot....i've only got two, and only one has flowered so far.

[terrier]

I planted in the ground this year with the leftover plants in pots. The courgette plants in the ground have been fruiting for weeks while the potted plants are only just in flower and no fruits from them yet. The potted courgette plants are also a lot smaller although they were planted up at the same time as the others.

[rustylady]

Mine are rubbish this year. Planted 3 on the lottie (everyone was complaining I had too many last year), only one is doing anything at all and that very slowly. The other two are looking very sick and if they don't get their act together they're going on the bonfire.

[Alison]

It's not a good year for them generally. I had an early one in a pot in the greenhouse which did a bit but wasn't worth the effort really - may try again next year on the basis that the weather is bound to be better. Planted two out into the garden, one got munched by slugs and was replaced by a spare I hadn't got around to throwing out. They're doing OK but have been slow, mind you, the later planted one has about 7 small courgettes on it so maybe I'll be giving them away yet! For those of you that haven't tried before, don't take any poor results as normal or your fault, last year everybody had loads without any effort or skill.

[SueA]

I've only had one decent courgette off my plants so far this year & usually have loads. I've noticed a lot of male flowers & only one or two females which now seem to be developing so hopefully there's still time to get a few more courgettes. Think it's been a bad year for lots of veggies because of the weather.